Hi Fellow LJ’s,
I am getting ready embark on my first refurbishing project. First of all, do you think I got a decent deal on this jointer? I paid $150 for it, low hours, but there “could” be minor pitting on the iron due to non-use and exposure. Second, what advice would you give me to refurb this? I was planning on working on the top and fence iron using a degreaser, WD-40, and scotch green pads. If that doesn’t work, I have Evapo-Rust that has a recommendation on how to remove rust on large objects. Any other recommendations before I go crazy on this? I’d appreciate the help and will post my progress here. Thanks!

Pics are a bit dark to see how much rust there really is, I have gotten good results with Rust Free, for removing surface rust in place without having to disasemmble the machine. I’ve got the slightly newer version of that planer, (still in the grey, not the orange) and the one thing I keep meaning to do is get a link belt for it to tamp down some of the vibration.

That seems like a reasonable price if it is mechanically sound. Changing blades without a knife setting jig can be an exercise in patience! I would just wet sand that rust with WD40 and start with 120 grit. Apply paste wax when sanded to your satisfaction.

[...] I have gotten good results with Rust Free, for removing surface rust in place without having to disasemmble the machine.

Just an FYI.. Rust Free is basically just a dilute solution (~30%) of phosphoric acid with a little bit of alcohol thrown in for good measure. For about the same price of a 12 ounce bottle of the Boeshield stuff, you can get a gallon of phoshporic acid and make your own. Also be aware that Rust Free (or any phosphoric acid based product) is a rust converter, not a rust remover like Evaporust.

I am speaking from inexperience and lack of knowledge… but when I cleaned my RIDGID jointer and then waxed it it was covered in rust in a few days. The Boeshield cleaned reasonably well (wasn’t any real major rust or pitting) and then coated it with the other Boeshield, it’s pretty much rust free despite a summer or two in an unsealed Maryland garage (so reasonably humid, at least compared with Oregon where I grew up).

I am certainly not challenging any statements from others that actually know what they are talking about but in my single experience the Boeshield kit seems to have worked well. If I get a particularly bad tool it would seem that perhaps I should look into the Evaporust.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. It looks like I’ll be working on the table and fence first, then pick apart, one by one, the rusted bolts/screws, etc. and dump them into the Evaporust. I’ll try the Paper tower / Saran Wrap technique first on the table (after I’ve had some time using the WD-40 to remove whatever I can off the top layer rust), and use Brad’s technique for the fence. If all else fails, I’ll purchase the Boeshield stuff and try that. As for the paste wax, I use it on my Table Saw and it’s rust free until I sweat on it, but that shouldn’t happen too often now since I insulated my garage door and hopefully, one day, will insulate the ceiling above the garage (what’s the reasoning for NOT insulating it when buying new homes? I don’t get it).

Just an update on my progress. The Evapo-Rust is working great. I got the fence rust removed. It’s a little black, but nothing some wd-40 and scotch can’t remove. I’m really debating whether to remove the infeed and outfeed tabes and clean out what’s underneath. The table moves relatively smoothly, so I don’t know if it’s worth the trouble to remove them if I can get the top un-rusted. What do you think? Last 2 photos shows what’s underneath. Oh…can someone tell me if I did something stupid? I removed the Cutterhead and just plopped it into the Evapo-Rust in its entirety without disassembling it. You think that will pose a problem if i properly dry it?

Cutter head is just a hunk of metal, so what’s to hurt? Ummm, you did remove the bearings first, right? I don’t know if it would hurt them, but I wouldn’t want to take the risk of the evaporust getting in and messing with the grease.

And if you don’t want to remove the tables, you can always evaporust them in place:

That top was removed from the machine first, but it could have just as easily been done in place. I personally would remove them.. you have gone this far.. might as well go the rest of the way :)

No, the entire cutterhead was rusted, so I just plopped the entire thing in there. If the bearings gets messed up, I’ll pick up some new ones. Right now, I followed the directions on the bottle and used shop towels drenched in Evapo-Rust, laid them down on the table and saran-wrapped the table to prevent evaporation. I’ll check in the morning just how well it worked. The cast iron itself is in great shape, so that’s my hesitation to remove the tables. I’ll see what happens tomorrow and make the final decision then. Thanks for the opinion.

Looks like you are doing a great job. If you want tgo take some of the elbow out cleaning (elbow grease) 3M makes pads that fit a orbital sander in different grits that work really well. Amazon carries them.

I decided to remove the table. I currently have the outfeed table dunked in the stuff; a gallon was only enough to cover the surface and maybe half an inch. That’s plenty since the rest of the cast iron is in good shape. A LOT of stuff did come out as I took the table off, I guess it was a good choice. And since I’ve come this far, I guess I’ll be removing the cast iron base from the base itself. I need to get to the cutterhead bolt that I can’t get out unless the base is removed. Oh, and if I don’t have the knife gauge, what’s the best way to make sure the knives are all aligned? I see that the Woodwhisperer had a method, but i”d like to hear others on that. And I think I’ll be using Lithium Grease between the moving parts. There’s such a huge debate on what’s good and what’s not, that I think I’ll just use that since I have a relatively new tube of the stuff.

Ugh…that’s what I was afraid of. No easy way to do it. I also ran into a slight problem with the infeed table’s rust removal. I can’t dunk that table because of the pin for the guard. I used a pair of pliers and it just didn’t budge. I didn’t want to risk breaking or bending it, so I’m using the paper towel method with saran wrap. I’ll just leave it on for a full 12 hours or so. For the time being, the cast iron base is off the main base and I’ve dunk 2 of the regular base panels so far; they look great, but I’ll still repaint. I guess this is becoming more of a blog than I originally planned. I’m hoping to complete all the rust removal and start priming and painting tomorrow. :)

Here’s the fence after Evapo-rust and WD-40. What is the recommended way of removing really hard pitch/glue/resin/whatever that black stuff is on the fence as shown in one of the pics? And is this “Good enough” or should I use more elbow grease, lower grit paper, different product? The black polka-dots are somewhat annoying, but still passable.

A small update. The spray paint is going very well. Frog tape is some good stuff for masking. The primer was the right color so I’m just going to put a clear Enamel on top after I put on a 2nd coat and then the reassembly will begin. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.